The text authority for this hymn had the refrain containing the words "Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings / To my eternal home". I just changed this to read "Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings / To my [own] immortal home" on the grounds that of the dozens of page scans, not one has "my eternal"; they all have either "my immortal" or, in three cases where the tune is not the usual one by Bradbury, but another by a J. W. Dadmun, "my own immortal". I explained this under "Notes" and also noted the fact that through the folk process "snowy" has become "snow white" in some recordings of the song. I hope these are useful and appropriate edits. If there are any early witnesses supporting "eternal", I'd like to learn of them.
Comments
On further study, I see that
On further study, I see that the differences between the refrain texts of the Dadmun and Bradbury versions go somewhat further than just the presence of "own" in the former. The Dadmun refrain reads
I will do my best at some point to make this all clear on the text page, unless someone else beats me to it. Now that I've heard it, I rather like the Dadmun tune, and I think I'll sing it tomorrow night at Seattle Song Circle.